8 Rivers of Shadow is book two in the Luke Manchett trilogy. I'd won a LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program copy of the third book, 7 Trees of Stone and LOVED IT. I requested a hold on books one and two because I didn't want to chance some other patron checking them out before I could get to my local library. I LOVED this one as much as the other two, but I'm very grateful that I got to read the third book first. I'll be 63 in a few months and my aging nerves don't need the suspense book two is so good at providing.

The acknowledgements and notes section at the end lets us know where the author got the names of five of the eight rivers of shadow and which three he made up.

The events in the first book have drastically changed 16-year-old Luke's social standing at school -- for the worse. On the other hand, class weirdo/psychic who sees ghosts Elza Moss and Luke have become close. Luke's attempt to lead a normal life in the months since last October ends the day a Californian exchange student, Ashley 'Call me Ash' Smith enters his second period math class. She gives him reason to be suspicious early on, but the truth was something he didn't see coming. (The classroom incident is bizarre enough that Luke is lucky he wasn't immediately hauled off to have his head examined.)

As in the first book, 13 Days of Midnight, sins of the past are going to have a very nasty impact on Luke [and Elza's] present. Liveside, where we live, and Deadside were touched upon before, but we get to learn a lot more about Deadside this time. It doesn't sound like a nice place to visit, let alone having to 'live' there. It's a race for life that Luke MUST win.

Once again there is humor mixed in with the horror. Elza has some very good lines. I loved her comeback to thick-headed Kirk Danknott's threat to sue them when he finally has to confront the fact that magic is real.

Chapter Notes (the chapters have names, not numbers):

(visitors):

a. Luke's math classroom is Room 3G.

b.. Ashley 'Ash' Smith, the new girl, tells Luke's math class the name of the exchange program that brought her to England. She's from Marin County, California. (Loved Luke's comment about math teacher Mr. Hallow's reaction to Ash's enthusiasm.)

c. See (the devil's footprints) and (the undiscovered country) chapters of 13 Days of Midnight for the scenes Luke describes while he's at the blackboard.

d. Luke's mother has gone back to using her maiden name of Cusp.

e. Luke can still see ghosts, even those on TV. No, that wasn't a ghost from the American Civil War that he saw trying to talk to a goalkeeper during a game. England has had plenty of civil wars, but the one that gets the big THE was from 1642-1651.

f. Ham, Luke's dog, gets described. I hadn't realized he was a long-haired dog.

g. 'Lower school' is a British term. Apparently it can mean either elementary school below 5th grade or middle school.

(the blank house)

a. See the (gray skies) chapter in book one for the first time Elza brought Luke to the graveyard of Saint Jude's.

b. See the (the lash) chapter in book one for why that party at the Simmons' house was so memorable.

c. See that same chapter and the one following (barren earth) for the time Luke was cut loose from his body.

(Ash): See the (the undiscovered country) chapter in book one for when Luke's dad told him about Marcus Ahlgren and the necromancer war.

(a glass darkly):

a. The chapter title is taken from the Bible, First Corinthians, chapter 13, verse 12. If you're Catholic, as I am, you've probably heard it as '...At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,...' because it's one of the famous Biblical quotations that the folks who work on the New American Bible translations have changed without thinking how it might affect someone who doesn't know the earlier version that other Christians still use.

b. We learn that the Widow was a Priestess of Osiris when she was alive.

c. Ham is a deerhound.

d. White is the Ahlgren family color.

e. We learn something about Luke's copy of the Book of Eight.

f. Ashana has a device her great-great-grandfather made that's very useful.

g. See the (dogsbody) chapter in book one for the time Luke read the Book of Eight.

h. We learn that the Oracle of the Manchett host was Marcus Ahlgren's aunt and how she died.

i. Ashana explains about what happens to spirits that are eaten by a demon. See the (the lash) chapter of book one for when the Fury ate the Vassal.

j. We learn about the Widow's cup.

k. Ashana explains about the witch blades created by the Daughters of Lilith.

l. The Shepherd called Elza 'witchlet' in (the lash) chapter . See the (gray skies) chapter for what Elza thought might be true about her family.

m. Elza makes a request of Luke.

(our mutual fiend)

a. Ashana explains about passing places.

b. It was the gold ring with the red stones that was used for the Fury.

c. Look here for a spell Luke has to recite.

d. This is the scene with a very different school fashion show.

(nonpareil)

a. Luke tells us how his mum and her parents have reacted to his and Elza's relationship.

b. Luke and Elza tell Ashana about the main events of the last book. This is the first time Elza has heard about the origin of the Manchett Host's the Innocent.

c. See book one's (dogsbody) chapter for when Luke entered Ham's body.

d. Luke met Jack, Ryan, and Andy in book one's (barren earth) chapter.

(opener of the gate)

a. A silver band set with jade was the ring used for the Shepherd.

b. Luke hears the Shepherd's laugh for the first time.

c. We learn about the Shrouded Lake.

d. King Solomon is mentioned.

e. The Widow's name in life was Kasmut.

(asphodel):

a. We meet the Gatekeeper. (Loved the way the Shepherd announced Luke's business. The Gatekeeper and the Shepherd's reaction when Luke breaks in with a remark of his own made me laugh aloud. Ditto the Shepherd's response to Luke's remark about his description of Ham.)

b. Luke meets someone he'd rather not.

c. Luke is at the Phlegethon, the River of Rage.

d. We find out what happened to another member of the former Manchett Host.

e. The Riverkeeper of the Cocytus is described.

f. Luke's response to the toll requested makes me chuckle.

(the shrouded lake)

a. The Shepherd and Luke discuss Elza. Too bad psychotherapy hadn't been invented when the Shepherd was young.

b. Ashana and Luke have an interesting conversation.

c. There are several references to the first book here. See these chapters for:

1. (sunny-side up) gives us Kirk and the ball.

2. (dogsbody) for Elza running from and tricking a demon and for Luke seeing her holding the Book of Eight by lamplight.

3. Elza got out of Luke's mum's car in (the undiscovered country) chapter.

d. Luke has a cute memory about Ham when he was a tiny puppy.

Luke's journey through Deadside is appropriately eerie. There were times I didn't see how Mr. Hunt could possibly end this adventure even remotely well -- and that's with having read book three first. Not only do I recommend this book just as heartily as the first, I recommend having all three together because you probably won't want to wait to pick up the next book once you've started. ( )

I was keen to read the next in the series after having enjoyed 13 Days Of Midnight, it wasn't a bad read but it wasn't as enjoyable as the first.

I feel that the characterisation was lacking in this second instalment. The choices that the characters made and their interactions didn't work for me. The story relies almost solely on the characters of Luke, Elza and Ash and they didn't come across as strong enough to drive the story in my opinion. I found myself questioning their decisions and more irritated by them than anything else.

The world building is what made the book more enjoyable. The visuals of the underworld and the descriptions of the scenes were a pleasure to read. I missed the humour though. A large part of what made the previous book fun was the Host, they brought a lot of humour and fun to the story and that was missing here.

All in All it was a decent read but it was lacking in comparison to the previous book in the series. ( )